Thursday, 20 September 2007

Secreto de Cerdo

A strange piece of meat, this.....Secreto de Cerdo or "Pork secret" as the label on the pack is titled and then underneath it says "containing a piece of 'fin' of pork loin/chine (chuletero). Apparantly, here in Spain in days gone by the Butcher used to keep this particular cut for himself, a "secret" from the customers!! Well I can see the affinity to a fin in the shape but exactly where on the beast the meat comes from is hard to tell because the Spanish butcher quite differently to the English. Up on the shoulder, behind the fat is as close as I can get in translations of the word "Chuletero". One more thing to mention, my piece weighs .204kg/6.5ozs and cost 1.19euros so it's very cheap and will probably do me two meals if it doesn't shrink too much. I was talking to Ann in the Red Lion about how to translate the name and, one thing leading to another, we came up with a joint idea about how to cook it and it's that which follows.

It's quite thin but I'm going to bash it flat a little more then roll it with some stuff and roast it. Here goes.......

PREPPreheat oven to 180C/400FBetween clingfilm sheets pound the meat to about 1/4inch/6mm thickness and trim to a rectangular shape if necessary.Dice the Apple, place in a bowl and drizzle some Lemon juice over.Dice the onion.

METHODAdd the onion, Sultanas, spices and brown sugar to the apple and mix. Brush one side of the meat with some Olive Oil and quickly sear in a very hot frying pan, while brushing the top side with oil. Turn over and sear the other side. Remove from pan and rest on a board. Take half of the Apple mixture and mash it/blend it/pound it to a course pulp then paste the meat with the pulp and roll up like a Swiss Roll using kitchen string or cocktail sticks to secure. Toss the remaining apple mixture in a little Olive Oil and place in the centre of a roasting dish. Place the Roulade on top ,drizzle with some Honey and season with a little Salt and Pepper. Place low in the oven and roast for 1/2-an-hour.